Lallana: I'm so hungry to impress
Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana is determined to build on a positive personal week by using his newly embellished club experience for his return to international duty with England.
The 26-year-old was the picture of happiness on Saturday when he opened his account for the Reds with a goal of exquisite technique and poise, sweeping a left-footed hit into the corner against West Bromwich Albion.
His conversion helped the side he joined in the summer put a welcome end to a winless run in the Barclays Premier League by ultimately seeing off the Baggies 2-1 at Anfield.
The landmark moment arrived just two days after Lallana's return to Roy Hodgson's Three Lions squad had been confirmed, capping a total comeback from the knee injury that hampered his summer.
"It has been a good week, more so because we got the three points at the weekend," he commented at a press conference today. "And to get a goal was nice.
"I'm starting to feel back to full sharpness now. It had been a tough start having been injured, but after a lot of hard work and putting the hours in I feel good now.
"I'm always looking to impress in training and for my club. We've got a lot of talented players and there's always competition for places out there. I'm hungry to do well and impress."
It is fair to say that Lallana has settled in quickly to the demands of representing Liverpool since completing his switch to Merseyside from Southampton back in July.
The No.20 has drawn considerable plaudits from supporters for his efforts following a debut appearance last month, and believes the chance to test himself at a higher level - notably the Champions League - can enhance his skillset.
"It's a completely different aspect of football, it's a completely different competition," he said of Europe's elite club tournament, in which he has now made two appearances.
"Going abroad and playing Basel was a good experience, although we obviously had a disappointing result. There are similarities to international football and being involved in that is only going to make me a better player."
His short-term focus is now on England, who take up the baton in their qualifying campaign for Euro 2016 this week after kicking off proceedings in early September with a 2-0 win in Switzerland.
The next obstacles are a visit by San Marino - currently ranked joint-lowest in international football by FIFA - and a subsequent journey to Estonia three days later.
Lallana said: "We've got to remain focused on ourselves. I think that's vital. We need to put in a good performance and if we achieve that, then we'll hopefully get a convincing win.
"It is a target to get six points [from the next two]. We're not looking past the next two games. The priority is San Marino. We want to get the job done there.
"We've been working on how we want to play in training and preparing for the game exactly as normal. The lads have been professional and a good performance and three points are what we want."